


The Wonders Of Amnesia

by MunTiller



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Aged-Up Character(s), Ambiguous Relationships, Amnesiac Reader, Badass Reader, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Camping, Canon-Typical Violence, Desert, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forehead Kisses, I Tried, It's one coat, Mostly Fluff, Non-Graphic Violence, Out of Character, Pre-Calamity Ganon, Reader-Insert, Sharing Clothes, Shield surfing, Sweet, Temporary Amnesia, Travel, and never WILL, calamity never happened, child reader (scene in the past), definitely zelda's, may be ooc, probably, reader's of course, she's royalty and the reader doesn't know that, sue me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23264386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MunTiller/pseuds/MunTiller
Summary: After getting into a fight with some Lisalfos and getting hit on the head a couple of times, you forgot everything you knew prior to that specific fight. And on top of everything, now you need to take this strange traveler to Gerudo Town safely and not die on the process.
Relationships: Mipha & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Urbosa & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Zelda (Legend of Zelda)/Original Female Character(s), Zelda (Legend of Zelda)/Reader, Zelda (Legend of Zelda)/You
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	The Wonders Of Amnesia

Ever since you were young, you had looked up to the Hyrule Castle as a place where dreams came true. Of course that was exactly how every kid saw the castle, be it with envy or excitement, and you were no different. Once you grew older, whoever, the bliss faded away as it should, but you still admired the people there all the same. Royalty would never cease to amaze you.

As you grew up, you constantly heard about the royal family, even saw them once when you were younger. Your family worked crafting expensive and complex jewels. It was no wonder you lived so close to the castle.

The princess wasn’t a year older than you when you first met her. You were five, she was four.

She was being accompanied by her mother, Queen of Hyrule, which looked like a sweet woman from afar. Their horse had a beautiful golden mane and an incredibly shiny saddle, so much you had to pinch yourself to stop staring. It was a little embarrassing, to be honest.

You didn’t have the exact courage to approach them. The queen was just showing her daughter the outskirts of the castle, the cities around their home. That’s what you thought, at least. It was only when both approached your home that you realized your family was important enough to be noticed, as it had never crossed your mind you could grow up to make jewels for _them_.

As both her mother and yours talked, – perhaps something about necklaces? – You looked at the small princess hiding behind the queen’s legs. As your eyes meet you smiled brightly, and she simply smiled back, hiding more behind her mother.

“Wanna see something cool?” You whispered to her and she nodded. You took a ring from your pocket and put it on one of her fingers.

It was a simple metal ring with gold details, but somehow it had enough magical properties to mold itself around the user’s finger. It could be worn an entire life, and it would never become small. The girl looked at you with a confused expression, mouth agape.

“What’s this?” She asked and you lifted your chin proudly.

“I made it, my first.” You blushed. “Daddy helped, it’s very special.” 

The princess looked at the ring on her hand for a small moment, but you interrupted her as she was about to take it off and give it back to you. She tilted her head to the side, silently asking why.

“Keep it, my gift.” You smiled shyly and she blushed a little. Before she could say anything, mostly protest, her mother turned to her and yours put her hands on your shoulders.

“Shall we go, my little bird?” She asked her daughter, who nodded silently, and both got on top of their horse. Your mother gave the queen a last goodbye before they went away, the small girl looking at you until she was out of your field of vision.

The second time you saw her so close to you was exactly 10 years later, she was fourteen and you were fifteen. The news of her mother's death was old by now, but you still felt bad for her. Her mother died not even a year after your first encounter, as if you meeting her was like a bad omen. You felt guilty.

You were walking around your family's shop rearranging jewelry here and there, finding the best places to display the most incredible pieces you had made. She entered the shop right as you were planning on exiting it, a small box with a necklace in your hands. 

You gave two steps back as you recognized her, a little stunned by her sudden appearance. "Welcome to the (L/N) shop, how, uh, may I help you?" You asked uncertainly, as you had greeted no costumers until now. You felt a little awkward, all you normally did was help organize stuff. 

"Hello, do you have any jewels made with opals?" She asked and you tilted your head to the side, pondering if you had the right to point out how stupid that question sounded. Her voice was so stern and strong, she didn't look like a kid at all either.

"Yeah…? What were you thinking about?" You went to the balcony and put the small box you had on your hands in there, turning back to her and deciding not to be rude to royalty for your own sake. "Opals make you swim faster from what I've heard, is that what you're looking for?"

She nodded and you went to the displays at one corner of your shop, waving for her to come closer. As she did it, you opened the hardened glass lid on top of the display, taking from it a necklace and two rings, one resembling waves and the other with hardly any decoration, only the opal crystal on top of it.

"Pick one." You said simply and she seemed stunned for a bit, almost confused. 

"I'll take the simple ring, thank you." You nodded and went to the balcony, reaching into the back of it to take a piece of paper.

"That will be 800 rupees." You read on it, almost outraged by the high price, although you kind of understood why it was that way. People around you were very rich, your family had the right to ask for more, at least for you it worked that way.

While she paid you, a guard entered the shop looking for her. His eyes turned to you and you could almost see him scowl at your slightly dirtied clothes (you had been messing around with other kids some minutes before), but he said nothing, you supposed it was because of the princess. 

You counted the rupees one by one as she gave them on a small leather bag. 797, 798, 799, red rupee? That's 19 more than the price, then. You went behind the counter to take the rupees you needed – three blue ones and four green – putting them back on the same leather bag once you had stored the right payment on a pot you would later give to your parents.

“Sorry for taking so long, I never did–”

"Your highness, I suppose it is time to go back to the castle. Your father has requested you not to spend much time on the city.” The guard interrupted you with a small glare, the words coming with a somewhat venom, but you were used to annoying customers enough not to care. Were guards always like this? You had no idea since you rarely saw or even talked to them. What you had an idea, whoever, was of ways of dealing with those types of people by your own means, although your parents had expressed their displeasure with those innumerous times before.

You held back your tongue, the princess had already a glare strong enough pointed at his direction.

With a sigh, you did something you would later blame on a silent theft with no guilt whatsoever. You went back behind the counter and wrote a small note, adding into the leather bag with little to no hope that she would read it. Along, you put in an extra ruby bracelet. Maybe it could be of use? Why were you even doing this, anyway?

“Have a good day, your highness.” You mumbled absentmindedly as you gave her the bag, your mind turning automatically to your next task just as you had been raised to do. The princess took your tone as you being intimidated, immediately apologizing for no reason at all.

“I apologize for this man’s behavior, I hope you can forgive him.” She said confidently with a polite bow, but all you did was tilt your head to the side, feeling a bit of pity. She was acting so formal, even for a royal child, it pained you somewhat.

With a dismissive wave, you smiled. “That’s fine, I’ve seen worse. If you lose the ring, tell me and I’ll give you a new one for half the price.”

You glared at the guard as he glared back at you, apparently offended by your casual behavior around the princess he felt so protective over. She thanked you and walked away, leaving you back to your tasks.

You never received a thanks for the bracelet - which made sense since you asked for her to keep it a secret on the note - and neither received it back. You later saw her using it some weeks after your encounter. It made you happy. 

A year after this event, you had already left the town to explore the world.

So many good memories came from those travels, a lifestyle you would never leave behind no matter what. You carried those fond memories with you everywhere you went, other travelers loved to hear your stories of your latest travels and adventures.

You, particularly, loved your first one ever.

When you started traveling, your first destination was the Zora's Domain, mostly because you were curious about the Zora – and also about the Rito, but their home was too far to you at the time – but also because you wanted to take a quick glance at what they called a "Divine Beast".

You were about to climb the path of the Zora River when you got attacked by a bunch of Lisalfos. Not knowing how to even hold a sword, it wasn't a surprise that you were quickly overwhelmed. 

You had been lucky, whoever, as a nearby Zora with red scales and an impressive skill with the spear - more like a trident, perhaps? - came to your rescue as soon as possible.

You later learned her name as she healed a deep horrendous cut on your arm, _Mipha_. You immediately recognized her name and couldn't stop apologizing for taking up her time. She was so sweet you could have gotten diabetes with ease.

All done with that, your travel to the Zora's domain had been the best possible, you even learned some swimming tricks with them. You also made sure to never forget the debt you had with their champion, even if she had told you not to think about it so much.

After that, you became more careful. Took fighting lessons, traveled only by day and near rivers as not to get lost, even learned how to cook some meals on the run. With time, you became so distracted with your travels you forgot about the faces of the royal family and champions you admired so much when younger, ever only hearing about their recent deeds once you reached a stable which you never found around the world often.

Older, more experienced and smarter, you traveled the world with no specific places to go. You walked through rivers, mountains, cities you had never seen before, it made you thrilled.

As you were reaching the Gerudo Desert, you heard about the Yiga people, a clan of troublemakers. If you weren't careful before, now you were. Every time you found a traveler, mostly the careless ones, you made sure to warn them and they mostly took your words as friendly advice.

One afternoon whoever, you found the most careless and stupid traveler you had ever seen and it bothered you, a lot. 

As you were climbing down a ledge, grumbling under your breath with your nearly empty backpack, you heard a scream. Turning around, you didn't know how to feel exactly.

A group of Yiga men were chasing after a girl around the mountains right by your side, they didn't even see you. Having just been robbed by one of them and fuming, you unsheathed your sword and went to battle. 

"Your highness was quite stupid to come all the way to us with no knight!" One man laughed out loud as you sneak up on him, eyes lit up with fire. You didn’t exactly understand what he meant, but who cared? You had some expensive jewels missing, and you were pissed.

The girl had barely stood up, having fallen out of fear at ground, when the men approached her and cornered her from all sides. Those men, fighting them could be a struggle had been younger, but at this point you were much skilled with the blade for it to be a problem. They were so distracted with their new "prey" they didn't even see you coming.

Your rage disappeared just as quickly as it came once the fight came to an end.

"Idiots." You muttered under your breath as you hit what you thought was the last one of them, pushing the body with your foot over the mountain's edge and watching carefully as it collided with rocks and ledges. You heard a scream behind you, the words unclear because of the blood running up your ears in pure adrenaline, and you turned around just in time to get cut nastily on the skin near your right eye.

"So lucky." You thought as the world moved in slow motion. "I could be blind right now, huh?"

Suddenly, you were furious all over again.

Your reflexes acted first and you held the fist near your face with a strong grip, so strong the woman let out a painful grunt, the dagger falling from her hand. You smiled with a bloody grin, the red liquid coming from a small cut you had bitten accidentally on your tongue. You pulled the woman just enough for her to fall off the mountain, but not you.

You were still furious while you heard her body colliding with the rocks down below.

Taking deep breaths, 5 seconds was the time it took for you to register what had happened. You spat your blood to the side as you heard steps behind you, the girl you had just saved was most certainly approaching. As you turned around, you let go of your sword, letting it fall to the ground, hands aching painfully from how strongly you were gripping it. You lifted your shirt to cover the cut on your face, realizing it wasn't even deep enough to draw blood.

"Thank you very much. I’ll make sure to pay you later." The girl mumbled, still stunned. Once she was back to her senses, she tilted her head to the side, looking at your face and asked, "Are you alright? You're bleeding."

"Fine, I'm fine." You took some steps near the girl, maybe getting too close as she took a step back. There was a cut on her cheek near her mouth, a deep one, and you needed to take care of it before any sand got into it. Goddess knows how crazy the sandstorms could be on the desert.

"You reckless girl, what were you thinking?" You said as you held her face gently between your hands, your calloused skin contrasting with her soft one. She seemed surprised at the action, letting you turn her head to the side to look at the cut better. "My name is Y/N."

"I'm…" She seemed to hesitate, taking a step back. "Don't you recognize me…?"

You paused for a moment, inspecting her face before shaking your head as no names came into mind. You smiled a little, taking her hand and pulling her away from the high cliff you were close to.

"Sorry, if we ever met then I forgot it. When you travel the world, it's difficult to remember faces." Her brows furrowed as you sat her against a rock and took off your almost-empty backpack, going through your few lasting things to see if you had anything you could use to clean and cover the cut.

The empty backpack was the exact reason you wanted to reach Gerudo Town as soon as possible.

As you sat there searching, the girl gave you a silent, confused look. As the princess of Hyrule, it was hard for someone not to recognize her. People would see her and smile from miles away, be it fake or not, some children would even run to her and ask questions. Her title never abandoned her. There was no way you had no idea who she was.

And that's why she became immediately suspicious.

"Found it!" You said as you took out a canteen and a piece of cloth. Zelda leaned back a bit as you came closer and held her face, using the wet cloth to clean her cheek carefully.

"You know, you can't just walk around with no weapons, you should know that." You said as she flinched slightly.

Remembering your first and possibly only encounter with the Zora Champion, you felt as if the roles had been switched this time. What a curious situation.

After some time of silence, the girl finally mustered up enough courage to break it, making you jump lightly.

"Where do you come from, Y/N?" Zelda asked curiously, making you smile sweetly after a relieved sigh.

"Central Hyrule on a city closer to the castle, quite the place to grow up in, if you ask me." Then you fell silent, smile fading naturally as you focused on the wound.

To say it confused Zelda was an understatement. How could you not recognize her then? It was very clear to her you were trying to make her trust you by acting casual, as if she was just a traveler, but what impressed her the most was how genuine of an actor you were being. No trembling words, no hesitation in any actions.

Because as expected, trying to kidnap or befriend the Princess of Hyrule was a huge deal even in such a weird way and if you had any bigger plans then you would falter at least once, right?

"I see," Zelda thought out loud, forcing herself to come back to reality. "I used to go there often." She flinched again, feeling the cold water getting into the wound against her hot skin.

“Sorry." You whispered as you folded the piece of cloth and kept cleaning. "Then you must have some money on you, right?" She tensed, but you didn’t notice it in the slightest, too focused on your current task. “Only people of power or great skill lived around there, even the princess would come into town some times. The most snobbish shopkeepers would try to impress her with their talents and rare merchandise, but I was never brave enough to try it in particular.”

Zelda tilted her head to the side.

_What?_

As she looked for words to express her absolute confusion, you turned your eyes to hers, something in them giving her a nostalgic feeling. You winked before cleaning the bloodied cloth on your hands, only to get back to the cut seconds later.

“What part of the city did you go to the most?” You asked, looking for subjects to break the tense air around both of you.

“North.” She whispered, looking down.

“Even closer to the castle than I thought, well done.” You smiled, making her furrow her brows. “You must be very important, I’m even gladder I was here to help then.” Then you went back into your absolute focused mode, leaving Zelda to think by herself.

As you spent the next few minutes making sure the cut was clean, the sun slowly went down on the horizon. Once you were done, you looked away from the girl to the sun far away, estimating around 3 hours before it was gone completely.

You sighed quietly, throwing away the bloodied cloth and pulling your backpack up again. You looked up to the girl as she stood, nodding your head to the path down once you had her attention and offering your hand.

"Let's go, there's a nearby oasis we can reach before the day ends. From there, we can go to Gerudo Town by the morning, do you have any friends in there?" You asked, waiting for her. She looked very tense, so much it made you worried.

"My apologies, but I am not going with you." You froze after hearing the stern tone in her voice, taking some seconds to process.

What a strangely strong voice coming from such a weak-looking girl, recognizable too. 

And for a quick second, Zelda thought she had caught you in the lie as you turned around, mouth agape. That was until a genuine smile came to your lips.

"Wow." You paused for a small moment, looking for words. You laughed. "That sounded very serious, felt like my father was scolding me."

Zelda tilted her head to the side, “What?”

As you turned your body to face her completely, it slowly dawned on you that if she was really someone with power, the way you had been treating her could have come off as predatory, right? You bowed slightly. "Earlier, you asked if I knew you and I bypassed that. I just realized that when you are someone important people will try to approach you in weird ways, right?” You looked away, cheeks heating up in pure embarrassment.

“My behavior must have rung a lot of bells, I apologize."

There, at that moment, the princess let her guard down just a little. If you were acting, then you had to have been practicing your whole life to be this convincing. And so she admitted to herself that maybe some people would not know who she was, no matter what her title was.

With a heavy sigh, the princess lifted her chin up, attempting to look more secure than she actually felt, what if she had just fallen into your trap? “You can take me to the oasis, but you’ll leave me alone after that, does that sound good?” She tried to negotiate, hoping you would go along peacefully.

Looking up, you smiled and she immediately felt a little relieved, the weight lifting up from her shoulders.

“Sure.”

\-------

“Hey, what do you work with? I mean, no one comes to the desert for nothing.” You asked as you put small wood pieces in place to make a campfire, looking for rocks to put around it soon. The desert was big and empty, so it would be easier for the wind to come for the wood here than it would be on the actual mountains. What if one of the burning hot sticks ended up hitting one of you? Heck no, you shivered at the thought.

Until now, the travel had been straightforward and silent. The girl – as you called her since she had yet to give you a proper name – had talked little, only asked trivial questions such as ‘why are you here’ or ‘where are you going’, which were fine for you to answer. It was nice to have company, since traveling was not exactly a group activity for you, but all the while, even if talking was nice, your survival brain was absolutely active.

Right now you worried about the night, since you weren’t able to reach the oasis before sundown. Would it be even safe to sleep?

“I’m a… researcher, scientist of sorts.” The girl answered a little ticked off. You wondered if your question had made her uncomfortable.

“Makes sense, Central Hyrule was always a good place for researchers to find sponsorship.” You took a piece of flinch from your backpack and used your sword to light the fire up. As you got closer to it to warm up, you looked at the girl while she put your sleeping bag onto the ground.

She was using your coat, you remembered as you observed her quietly preparing to sleep. The chill of the cold night’s wind hit your arms like hundreds of small needles, the sleeveless shirt barely helping at all. 

At first, the girl had refused to take it as if her life depended on it and it annoyed you as she clearly needed it, shaking all around like she was freezing, but you had learned to be persistent when younger and she eventually had to cave in after you offering so much. She looked very cute in it.

As she sat by the other side of the campfire, her once-yours-now-hers bed done by her side, you looked her in the eyes, not sure what you were looking for. The way the light reflected on her irises, it made you nostalgic as if you knew her before.

You were planning on saying something, maybe telling a joke to lighten the mood, but she had always been way faster than you until now. You sighed as she went first.

“You look very tense, did something happen?”

You shifted in place, impressed by how observant she could be. “Nothing.” You stuttered, looking at the fire. “It bothers me I can’t remember you, that’s all.” Zelda tilted her head to the side.

“Is that normal? Forgetting people, I mean.” She questioned, raising a brow briefly.

“I would like to say yes, but it isn’t. I normally forget some people, yes, but I can remember after some time. Your face doesn’t bring any lights and that worries me. I wonder if it’s because of that moblin attack I went through.” You tilted your head to the side, leaning back on your hands as you looked at the sky.

“And what happened during that attack to worry you so much?”

“Got hit on the head by a Moblin, I don’t like how strong they are.” Zelda felt a shiver as you talked. “My memory is all weird now, it was a miracle I even knew my own name when we met earlier.”

The girl sat straighter as she looked at you, a new worried look on her face. The light the fire provided made her look beautiful at that moment, you had to notice, and you definitely loved the way her golden hair shined under the stars.

Sigh, _why did you have to be like this?_

“Do you remember when that happened?”

With a heavy feeling over your heart you let your body fall down, the sand receiving the impact and the dust coming up briefly. After a small grunt, you let out a relieved sigh.

“No? I have a guess, I think it was five nights ago, but I’m not sure.”

You felt the girl approaching and sitting by your side.

"So you forgot everything you knew before that?" You nodded and she sighed. That explained a lot.

Zelda leaned over your body as she looked at your face. Perhaps Mipha could help you with your memories if you wanted, but she was not sure of the exact extent of the Zora's healing power. She only hoped that, once the sun would come up again, you would be able to reach the oasis and head to Gerudo Town from there, where she could talk to Urbosa. She would be of great help, that's for sure.

"You called me reckless earlier, but don’t seem to be any better yourself.”

You smiled, giving no direct answer. “Tomorrow we will have plenty of time to reach Kara Kara Bazaar, are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the town? They are very close to each other.”

Zelda pondered for a moment, turning to look far away. She could see the fading lights of the city from where she was now, but they were so small she could even say they were just hallucinations, even stars on the beautiful night sky. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to look back at you.

“I think it’s better if we just go to Kara Kara Bazaar.”

You smiled, lifting your hand to boop her nose quickly.

“All right then, that’s decided. Now, you should go to sleep, you know? You got injured quite badly today, you should rest.”

“Stop talking as if I broke a bone or something, it was just a cut on my cheek and some minor bruises on the arms.” Zelda shook her head as you laughed. You got up, walking to your sleeping bag.

The wind would pick up soon and you weren’t a Rito capable of living on the coldest regions anyway, so you needed your coat back. Why not put the reckless traveler/researcher to sleep first before leaving her to the cold? You smiled at the thought, shaking your head.

You had always been smart, so of course your sleeping bag’s interior would be covered with feathers, heating fabric and others to keep the warmth from getting away. As soon as the girl went to sleep, you would go on patrol.

As you got closer to the bag, you turned around and looked at the girl. She pouted as you silently offered your hand, a warm smile on your lips telling her to just go and rest, that she would be safe under your watch. She shook her head as she approached you and sat on top of her new bed, ignoring your stretched hand.

“What about you? You can’t sleep in the cold.” She questioned looking up as she took your coat off, noticing how you were shivering without it.

“I won’t sleep tonight, too dangerous with so many Lisalfos around, I’ve learned my lesson.” You pointed to your head as you turned and walked away with your coat in hands.

“Sleep well, girl. Tomorrow we’ll get to Kara Kara Bazaar.”

And for a small moment, Zelda felt relieved and worried not knowing if she could really trust you enough to sleep peacefully. As she laid down, she looked at you staring into the distance, thinking about how nice you were being to her all the way down here even if you didn’t know who she was, couldn’t know who she was. Why become suspicious, then? She realized she couldn’t stop thinking about ways to repay you once you reached your destination, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop worrying about your ‘no memories’ state. What if, during the night, something happened and you forgot about everything that had happened in the last hours? What if-

She stopped, suddenly feeling your hand caressing her hair as you silently sat by her side, looking at the horizon. Your sword sat at your side, ready to be taken out in any dangerous situation, and even if you didn’t really need to do it, you kept it away from her. When did you get that close?

Before she could even question it, Zelda quickly fell asleep under your cautious yet caring touch as if under a spell, her eyes closing peacefully under a tired bliss. She never even realized she was so tired before that moment.

\------

Once the sun on the horizon started to rise, your guard came down gradually. The night had been very peaceful and quiet, leaving you plenty of time to think and dig for your memories in the back of your mind. With so much time for that, you remembered lots of childhood events that otherwise you would have forgotten, gradually building again your own identity from the dust. You were happy.

With so much to recall, you became fond of your earliest memory: the day you had crafted your first piece of jewelry, a magic ring. Although you did not know what had happened to it, it made you happy to remember such a fond moment with your father, who did his best to teach you the family art and tradition.

As you sat on the sand, you looked up at the purple and yellow sky, the sun casting its powerful rays of warmth over you. There were still lots of stars out there to see and you wished you could stay seated there, watching until at least the majority of them vanished into the daylight, but you still needed to help the girl reach the city.

Looking back at the campfire, of which the fire had already disappeared long ago, your vision turned to her. She looked so peaceful and beautiful you had to fight yourself to stop staring.

'We still have plenty of time to reach the oasis, couldn't take more than another day.' You thought and, complying with your own desires rather than the most logical choice, you decided to stay idle a bit and let the girl rest more.

She looked so tired the day before you felt bad for making her accompany you down the mountain by foot. Unfortunately, you had no horse, as there were no stables nearby for you to bring yours with you, so you had been traveling by foot for quite a while now. 

You wondered if she was used to traveling by foot as well.

Looking around, you decided to go hunt a little. You were sure the girl would be hungry once she woke up and your backpack was nearly empty, so much you could leave it behind if you wanted, so why not? Nothing was stopping you anyway.

By the time Zelda woke up, the stars in the sky were nearly gone although the sun had barely appeared on the horizon. She was used to waking up early, royal family duties and all, but she had never expected to find your small camp empty, no sign of your presence anywhere besides your bag thrown on the ground recklessly.

At first she panicked, thinking you had abandoned her to potentially die on the desert. ‘How could I have believed it? Of course I would be tricked.’ She thought in desperation until that exact moment she saw your silhouette far away. Just… there, it almost seemed like you were motionless until she realized you were approaching the camp again.

Turns out to go ‘hunting’ on a desert full of monsters was harder than it seemed initially. Because there were so many monsters hiding on the sand, it was rare to find any animals running around. Zelda knew this, the Gerudo women knew this, but you with your apparent amnesia didn’t. 

You looked like a child whose candy had just been taken away as you approached her, two hydromelons on your arms and a pout on your lips. You had some small cuts on your arms, which seemed to be from some minor fights you had with monsters during your search for meat.

Zelda laughed silently as you came closer, a slight relieved sigh leaving her lips.

“I brought breakfast, I guess.” You sat the two hydromelons on the ground, looking at her. “Did you sleep well?”

She nodded, thoroughly entertained with the obvious disappointment in your voice. As you sat on the ground, she sat right in front of you, taking your arms in her hands, looking at your small cuts.

“Where were you?” She refused to admit you had her scared for a moment, though you could hear certain vulnerability in her voice. She cleaned her hands on her clothes – which were just as dirty as yours at this point – before taking a look at your scratches.

“I thought about going hunting and that’s what I did.” You looked away feeling flustered and she smiled. Damn it, why did she have to look so ethereal in this light? You didn’t know what to feel embarrassed about first.

“Then why did you bring two hydromelons?” Heat arose to your cheeks and you felt like you needed cooling down.

“Fruits are easier to hunt.” You looked down with a pout, jumping in surprise not long after as you felt a cold fabric on your injuries. 

Zelda smiled as she took a handkerchief she carried in her pocket, wetting it with some water she found on your canteen near your backpack. The rocks by your side seemed much more interesting than anything else as she wiped clean the small bits of blood on your arms, some to the point of becoming almost unnoticeable. The blood was dry, if there at all, so there wasn’t much she could do anyway.

Once she was done, you took your sword to open up the hydromelons so you could both eat. You weren’t even sure if she had ever eaten one before, as she seemed to hesitate for some seconds before going down. How cute.

You were done eating first, so while she was finishing her share of the melon, you took upon yourself to dismantle your small camp. You folded your sleeping bag and stored it in your backpack – why were you still carrying that bag, anyway? – then you kicked away the campfire, making Zelda jump a little at the sudden movement.

“Sorry.” You smiled sheepishly and offered her a hand, helping her get up. You waited patiently for her to clean her clothes a bit. “You ready to go? The Kara Kara Bazaar is not very far from here, we could reach it by noon.” 

She nodded. “Tell me, Y/N, just for how long have you been travelling?” She asked once you had your bag on your back and started walking towards the direction you had deemed the right one. You had no map on you, it had been stolen – who steals maps? – so you had to trust your gut feeling and natural compass to go anywhere.

It was a bit of a hassle.

“Ever since I was sixteen, life waiting for the materials to come to you can become boring.” You looked around, searching for sand seals so you could travel faster. You sighed once you realized there were none. You felt proud of yourself for remembering that occasion. “Worked on a jewelry store, you know? I hate to brag, but even the princess went there once.”

Zelda tilted her head to the side, trying to remember that day. “She did?”

“Yeah, when she was younger. Our ages are very similar, although I don’t remember mine or hers so… yeah, doesn’t make much of a difference.” You kept walking oblivious thoughtful state the girl besides you were.

Zelda looked at the horizon as she tried to remember this moment. Perhaps she could help you rebuild your identity if she remembered that day you just described to her. Of course it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t very hard either. She hadn’t been to many jewelry stores near her home during her life.

The problem was mainly that you didn’t know when that happened, only that she was younger than she was now. She tilted her head to the side. “Y/N, what gemstones did you sell?”

You seemed thoughtful for a moment. “All of them?”

Aha. So that store.

Zelda nodded silently as she remembered a day when she was fourteen that she had decided to test the properties of different gemstones throughout the world.

Of course, she didn’t travel the world when she tried her experiments out, she went to the lands near the castle as far as an unsupervised teenager could go. ‘Unsupervised’, between countless quotes, as her father would never let her go anywhere without at least one soldier guarding her, which even now she found annoying, although the situation had become better ever since the champions had been united. She could include Link as a good company too, even in his quiet nature.

She could even say that she had warmed up to his presence eventually, but that’s another story for another day. At fourteen, she had barely known of his existence.

That day, she remembered, she wanted to see how much the effect of an opal piece of jewelry could help when swimming, and even if her small mission didn’t quite go as well as she wished, she remembered that place where she had gotten that beautiful ring.

“Hey, girl.” You called her a little further ahead on your path, your smooth yet vulnerable sounding voice pulling her out of her thoughts. “Do you think I can remember everything I’ve forgotten? Every bit?” She felt bad about how weak your voice was. It sounded shy.

Zelda recognized the tone, too.

She didn’t know your name – at the time, obviously – but she remembered your face clearly whereas she would normally forget such trivial things, she saw many people every day after all. You worked on the biggest jewelry shop near the castle, you were the one to sell her that ring, – and give her that beautiful bracelet she used every day until it became too small – but above all else you were the reason she had her first stern talk with the royal guard along with her father the next day.

Did you both have similar ages? If so, you had to be close to nineteen now, just as she was. Perhaps a little older than that? You did look like it, but she could be wrong. She didn’t think she was very good at guessing ages.

“With a little help, yes.” Zelda answered after a minute of silence. You looked back with uncertainty in your eyes, but all you did was smile at her. The pain and fear that smile carried made her feel bad, but also strange in a way.

For some reason, she realized some seconds later, she didn’t want this peaceful bliss to go away, this small bubble world you had both created where she was just another lost traveler you were helping out. It dawned on her that once you reached the oasis, people would recognize her and your bubble would be popped at that exact moment. Would it be even safe?

Zelda didn’t want to see you treating her like royalty, too, it made her uncomfortable for reasons she could not understand immediately. Would you act fake? Would you, upon knowing who she was, become closed off? Or even worse, become one of the thousand snobbish people who always try to impress her with the most common knowledge out there?

She didn’t want to know, therefore she didn’t want to get recognized. Not so soon, at least. She didn’t want you to change so soon after meeting her, after showing her this soft side that could be a rarity to you.

Zelda realized, suddenly, that she didn’t know you as much as she wanted to.

“Y/N, can we go straight to the city?” She inquired quietly, looking down. The sun, bright and powerful, was making her eyes hurt with so much light, but she had to be honest with herself too. What if you said no?

“Do you want to go there now? I was planning on buying some things on Kara Kara Bazaar before going there.” You turned around, walking backwards as you looked at her. Your gaze was non-judgmental, your question was genuine, and you seemed to frown once you noticed how bothered Zelda was with the strong sunlight. She definitely wasn’t someone who travelled much, you guessed, at least not to such extreme places.

“We could buy things in there, I could pay for some- ah!” She gave some steps back as you threw your coat over her head, surprised by the sudden action. “Why would you–”

“You need it more than me, use it to hide from the sun.” You pointed in the direction of the flaming ball in the sky, as if she needed to look at it to know it was there. Your smile was small, but mischievous. 

“I’m fine, Y/N, I don’t need you to protect me from everything.” Zelda seemed annoyed as she took your coat off her head and gave back to you. You pouted and threw it on her again, making her squeal in surprise again.

As she went to take it off, probably about to point out how stubborn you were – as if she was any less – you approached her with a frown on your face.

“Come on.” With a huff, you held her wrists as she gripped for your coat, making her stop immediately. She looked at you and you pouted, clearly annoyed.

“Keep it, damn it. Why are you so stubborn?” You cursed under your breath lightly, too quietly for her to hear. She shivered at the contact with your cooler skin, although the one who was hotter than normal was her, both of you close enough for the shade your coat to make a shadow over your face. 

She blushed at your proximity and looked away, making you realize how close both of you were. You let her go while taking some steps back, your cheeks adorned by a pinkish hue. Why did you do that?

“Sorry for that.” You looked down, then looking back at her more confidently after some seconds. “But I’m serious, keep it.”

She huffed stubbornly, contesting your decision quietly, but complying nonetheless. Her behavior amused you greatly, reminding you of the small tantrums you would watch toddlers throw around your city back then – some adults did it too, but you could ignore that part, even forget if you wanted – before you “moved out”.

For the rest of your small travel through the desert, she walked in front of you, giving you the silent treatment. It made you a little scared at first, so much you had apologized to her at least five times in half an hour, until she turned to you and gave you a small glare.

You decided to shut up for a while after that.

The entire travel you had seen no sand seals, which made you a little sad since you wanted to try it out for the “first time”, at least since you had your accident. You were certain you were good at it, you remembered doing it before and being praised by people, just not who or when.

As the sun went down, the routine from the last night repeated itself. Zelda made her bed still giving you the silent treatment and you made sure everything was clear around your camp area before lighting up a fire. 

This time whoever you didn’t sit by the fire like you had last time, any lights close to you would make you unable to see the beautiful sky right above you. As you sat a little farther away from Zelda, you looked up mesmerized by the immensity of the universe right in front of you, so distracted you didn’t notice you had started shivering.

You jumped a little as you felt your coat being put over your shoulders. Looking at Zelda, you tilted your head to the side. “Weren’t you mad at me?”

“No, why would I be?” She looked up, trying to distract herself from something plaguing her mind. “I was thinking about some things.” You nodded as you put your coat on, the warmth coming from it making you sigh in satisfaction. Had it always been warm like this?

“What were you thinking about?” You laid down on the ground resting your head on your hands as you appreciated the sight.

“You.” She looked down at your sleepy figure, both of you tired from the day.

“I feel flattered to be on the mind of someone important.” You smiled at her, making her laugh quietly. A little reluctantly, she laid down by your side, turning her body to look at you.

“I have a friend that could help you if you wanted, but she lives very far away from here, so you would have to travel a little.” Her voice was very calm and smooth, it soothed you in a way you could have drifted to sleep then and there. You smiled, glad that she was willing to help you with your memory problems.

“That would be nice, thank you.” You turned your body to look at her fully, coming closer to give her a quick kiss on the forehead as a true thank you. She blushed just like before, smiling weakly.

That night as she went to sleep, Zelda missed the caring touch she had drifted to sleep to the night before. Today you were close to a monster camp, so you had to be more alert. You didn’t want to see Zelda getting hurt.

\------

The next morning she was woken up a little later than the one before, although she couldn’t complain about the extra sleep she had.

"Wake up." Zelda opened her eyes slowly as she felt her body being slightly nudged to the side. She sat up as your calloused, bruised hands touched her face, bringing her eyes to yours before anything else.

Shining under the strong sunlight, your eyes remembered her of the stars she had seen last night. Your clothes were disheveled, hair a small mess, and she even noticed some new bruises around your exposed arms. She became instantly worried, had you gotten into a fight during the night?

Her eyes went around your body as she seemed to look for even more proof of that statement, and then she finally saw that deep cut on your left leg. The one who was so wide you had used your entire coat to cover it.

The cut was deep, bleeding heavily, the blood only being held back by a tore piece of your coat, which had been destroyed apparently. As she looked back at you, noticing how hazy your eyes looked, you only smiled, bringing your index finger up to your lips. You pointed to the far side of your camp.

At first, having just woken up, she thought it was some kind of monster and panicked for a second, until she recognized the silhouette of a big yellow and brown seal lying on the ground with no worries about the world. She turned back to look at you and you merely smiled in excitement like a child.

"It's a sand seal, it appeared some time ago. If we are quiet enough, we can both use it to get to the city with ease." Your voice was lower, weak, Zelda was not sure if it was because of the seal or the blood pouring out of your leg like a fountain.

“You won’t be able to surf with a leg like this, we need to take care of it first.” Her voice was stern, like a mother scolding a child, but you had barely flinched. All you managed to do was shake your head to the sides slowly and repeatedly.

“My backpack is empty, we have nothing to take care of it here. Walking is out of question-”

“And you think surfing is reasonable?” You looked down as Zelda got infuriated, your silence speaking volumes.

“It’s our only choice, girl.” Your eyes turned away from her as you got up, limping towards your now-empty bag and taking from inside of it a rope.

"I have never sand surfed and you can’t do it with your leg like this, how are you planning on doing this?" Zelda asked incredulously, trying to kick some sense into your head, but you weren’t buying it in the slightest. By now, you were both having a silent argument with both glares and whispers.

You looked and acted so different from the last two days. Were you even the same person?

"I’ll go on one leg and I'll carry you." You said simply, taking the girl by surprise. "If we go slowly I can make it, I just need to keep high levels of pressure away from the injury and we’ll be fine."

Zelda stuttered, trying to find the right word to express how much she was against that idea. You had successfully left her speechless. Looking at her, you took her hesitation as being afraid and nothing else, your mind not having enough energy to focus on anything else.

You had barely given her any time to think, let alone speak as you were already taking the rope and tying it around your waist with a strong knot, as strong as you could at least. You felt so weak, your clothes weighted on you like metal. 

“You don’t need to be scared, I’ve done this countless of times before. At least, I have a feeling that I did.” Your statement only made her even more worried. You paused as you turned your head to the side, looking at the horizon.

"Isn't that dangerous? What if we fall halfway?" She tried to negotiate, again trying to put some sense into your stubborn head, but you only looked at her with an easygoing smile. She could not believe how pale you looked now that she was paying attention.

"Then we walk the rest. Falling or not, it's win-win." And that was when Zelda realized there was no way she would be able to make you forget that crazy idea. “It will be quick at the right speed, don’t worry.”

With a sigh and a worried expression, Zelda looked down, thinking about what to do. She went to the sleeping bag and, after thinking about it for a while, decided against taking it with her. She could buy you a new one later and you needed your body and hers to be as light as possible. With this in mind, she looked at you, seeing that you were still carrying your sword around.

“Y/N, leave the sword.” She said in a strong voice, but not a loud one as not to ruin your “travelling plan”. You turned to her and did it with no questioning, feeling too tired for that. Then you slowly approached the sand seal lying on the ground sunbathing.

Zelda smiled reluctantly as she saw you tying the other end of the rope to the sleeping seal, careful not to wake it or to hurt it. As you finished the job, you looked at her direction, a patient smile on your lips.

She hesitated of course, she didn't know how experienced you were with sand surfing and she didn't want to fall to the ground, but she wanted you to hurt yourself even less. She eventually was brave enough to come to you, taking your extended hand as a reassuring gesture.

“We’ll be fine.” You whispered reassuringly, but she wasn’t sure if she was buying it. With a small, terrified nod, she climbed onto your shoulders right after you placed your shield under your feet, your entire weight on the right leg. Wrapped one of her arms around your neck, holding back a small squeal as you got up to your feet.

Turning to the almost waking seal and taking a deep breath, you shook your head to the sides, trying to push away the dizziness.

“Hold my clothes as tight as you can or you will fall, do you understand?” You sounded just as serious as her father for a moment, making Zelda flinch slightly. After a second or two, she muttered a small yes, making you nod.

Finally, you sighed deeply again, finding it hard to breathe under the extreme heat, before you brought your fingers to your mouth and gave the loudest whistle you could. It wasn't as loud as you wanted it to be, and that only showed your unusual, and alarming, tiredness.

Maybe the open cut on your leg, which you had naively thought not to be so dangerous, was a threat after all.

Before you could give your plan a better thought, whoever, the seal by your feet jumped at the noise, instincts kicking in. Zelda couldn't help but yelp as the seal buried itself in the sand and you both started moving fast. You gritted your teeth in pain as you gripped onto the rope to steady yourself.

The speed was relatively slower than you had originally expected, and for your leg that was good, but you were sure you were getting faster by the second and that only made you happier for some reason, even in pain. It felt like you were going through your memories and living them all over again. With one of your hands holding the rope and the other going around the princess’s leg, you laughed loudly, the wind hitting your ears as like water had you jumped into a river.

“This is awesome! Now I know why I loved it so much!” You screamed, feeling the girl on your shoulders curling around your head just a little. You felt like she had her eyes closed and that was suddenly unacceptable! “Come on, adventurer, open your eyes! Look at how fast we are going!”

“Focus on not falling, Y/N! Your leg!” She screamed back at you in the middle of the strong wind and you relaxed a little, eyes turning forward. It made you a little happy knowing she hadn’t passed out just like you felt you were going to. You knew she was at least a little scared though, your leg and all. You paid no mind to that; you were going to be fine.

As you surfed through the desert, passed countless old statues, ruins and some monsters taking shelter in them, you made sure to maintain yourself at least a bit steady. No weight on your left leg and if you had no choice, then the minimum possible, grunting here or there to bear the pain. At some point your arm even left her leg in favor of pulling the seal to the side, guiding it with proficiency.

You were a natural at this.

Before you knew it, you passed the Kara Kara Bazaar you were supposed to reach before sundown last night and as you looked forward, it brightened your mood to see Gerudo Town getting closer.

"There it is, girl! We made it sooner than I expected." You laughed, pulling the seal to make it slow down. With your dagger, of which you hardly made use but carried around nonetheless, it took some tries but you eventually cut the rope once at a reasonable speed and both of you slowed down naturally, the sand taking away the movement.

Once you stopped, whoever, it was as if your entire strength had vanished suddenly and your legs naturally gave in, making you fall limp to the ground with a grunt, Zelda falling right by your side.

“Y/N!” She screamed desperately, rolling you to your back. “Y/N, come on, please we are the gates!” And it was true, the city was near enough for you to see it clearly, but you simply wouldn't, couldn't respond. You felt so weak and breathing had become so hard.

Zelda jumped from the ground as she started running towards the front gates, leaving you behind briefly. As she went away, all you could think about was how much you wanted to follow her, but you just couldn't move.

All you could do was stare from afar under the strong heat, hoping that soon enough those guards on the front gates would come for you by her request.

"Urbosa!" Zelda screamed for the Champion at the main entrance, running in her direction as fast as she could on the sand. The warrior seemed relieved by seeing the princess after so long, a worried expression resting on her stern face.

"There you are, Mipha’s scales were about to become as white as a sheet in worry. Where have you been, little bird?" The Gerudo Champion questioned in a lighthearted tone, as if she didn’t really care Zelda had been gone for so long. Zelda knew she did, a lot in fact, and she appreciated the easygoing nature Urbosa had, but right now she didn’t have any time to talk.

The sounds of the lively city flooded her ears, making them hurt as she had gotten used to your silent nature. There were people everywhere, children and adults. She didn’t know what to look for first.

“Princess?” Urbosa called for her as she looked around the city frantically.

Zelda looked at her for a moment before looking ahead and seeing Mipha exiting the palace to see what was going on. She couldn't wait a second more as she desperately ran in her direction, calling for her. Urbosa furrowed her brows, was there something wrong?

And that was when Urbosa herself finally noticed your limp body by the sand, making her immediately order the guards in front of the gates to go get you. Were you somehow related to Zelda's sudden arrival at the city? She would have to ask the girl herself later. 

With a sigh, she observed as the Zora Champion approached her guards hurriedly with the princess in tow and went to check how bad the damages were. Mipha soon asked the guards to take you to Urbosa's room at the palace, something the Gerudo Champion agreed immediately. 

All the while the princess kept quiet, only asking questions about your well being every once in a while. As you were taken to the palace, Urbosa got closer to the princess. 

"You will need to explain all of this later, little bird." She muttered to Zelda and she only furrowed her brows in silence, nodding. 

\------

By the time you came back to your senses, the loud sounds and voices of the city had become more silent, distant, giving space for the noise water made when running through the fountains nearby. Somehow, the quiet, peaceful energy of the ambient made you feel safer, relaxed.

At first you didn't open your eyes. They felt heavy and uncontrollable, the weight unbearable to you, your throat was so dry it felt like it would tear itself apart if you tried to speak and your ears kept ringing loudly, adjusting to the surrounding sounds. 

The first thing you heard, again, was the water running somewhere, but where? Would it even matter to you? Because of that sound, you knew you were in Gerudo Town, inside. You felt relieved.

How long had you been out for? It felt like a blink to you, but it could have been days, weeks even, and you wouldn't know, how could you even? Your body felt so heavy and your mind was hazy, foggy with thoughts about your life.

Right now you hated yourself for it, but when you closed your eyes at that moment before passing out all you could do was, perhaps a little unfairly, curse the girl you had saved as she ran away from you. Your mind didn't, couldn't really, process the fact that she was seeking aid for you, because you couldn't even move by yourself. In your mind the alluring eternal sleep that awaited you on the other side had finally gotten its hands on you, and it would end up being her fault. You would never wake up again because of her. Your heart filled itself up with hate before anything else. 

But to your surprise you had woken up and now all you could do was feel bad for thinking so cruelly about her, you felt so bad about it you wanted to apologize for thoughts she couldn’t even know about unless you told her. Did she help you, brought you to somewhere safe in the city? Maybe you were at one of her friend's houses, if so you could apologize as soon as you saw her.

As you opened your eyes, determined to find her somewhere, you came back to your senses like a snap. Eyes pointed at the ceiling, you heard voices nearby, their tones hushed and low, as if they were whispering. Turning your head to the side, something that took out of you a lot of strength, you saw the blurry image of two Gerudo women standing by the opening of the room you were in.

It took some time for them to notice it, but soon enough you were trying your best to sit on the bed you had been resting upon. Sounds weren't exactly clear to you yet, so you could barely understand what that woman was saying to you as she hurriedly came to your side.

"Water…" You struggled to say and she got it immediately for you, although you were forced to lay back into bed as soon as you've had enough to start feeling like you could talk again. 

"Thank you." You smiled weakly and she smiled back, but before you could say anything more, such as asking for her name, someone entered the room.

It was a Zora, which you found a little weird since the desert wasn't the best place for a water-based species. She had red skin and a powerful stance, a blue piece of fabric around her torso, and for some reason she seemed highly familiar to you. 

As your ears gradually adjusted to the surrounding voices, you picked up some brief words of the exchange between the Zora and the woman beside you.

"-cess will be coming shortly." 

"Understood Miss Mipha. Please, have a good day." The woman nodded as she walked away, leaving you alone with the Zora.

You shifted on the bed as something on your head tingled strongly. Was it your memory? Something was coming up and you were remembering it.

"Mipha?" You muttered confused and the Zora only turned to you with a comforting smile. A peaceful yet nostalgic feeling came into your mind and you blushed while looking down, a little embarrassed. "Like the Champion…?" You struggled to remember, feeling proud of yourself for recalling her title.

"I was informed of your situation, Y/N, you don’t need to try so hard to remember me." Mipha smiled as she sat on the bed to look at your leg and you expected to find a rather gruesome injury, but that was not the case. As she lifted the sheets carefully, you noticed your wound was bandaged, although it hardly seemed necessary as there were no bloodstains anywhere. 

"I am almost done with the healing of your wound, it might take some time for you to walk again like you did before though." She explained as she untied the bandages to finish the healing process. You averted your eyes as her hand started glowing as to not hurt them, a smile coming to your lips as you bowed your head. 

"Thank you." You whispered, too tired to question say anything else.

As Mipha focused on healing your worst wounds, you were left to think. Why was she of all people helping you? You thought that girl had brought you to one of her friend's house, but there was no way she knew one of the Champions personally. 

As you looked around, it dawned upon you that you weren't in a simple house either. The bed you were on was fancy and the surrounding room not much different, it was also very wide and spacious, small paths on the ground where the water ran through.

"Um, Miss Mipha? Where am I?" You asked reluctantly and the Zora could only smile sweetly at your confusion. Before she could say anything, someone else came into the room through the stairs outside. 

"Y/N, you're awake." You turned your head to the voice, only to be left even more confused as you saw the girl you had helped earlier. The cut on her cheek was gone and she had changed clothes, opting a more traditional Gerudo outfit, although you weren’t sure if it fitted her at all. All you could think was about how beautiful she looked, so perhaps it did.

"Hey, you never told me you were that important, girl. You know the Champions?" You laughed as she approached, a guilty look on her face. Even then, you couldn't help but blush embarrassingly. 

"About that, I apologize. I was just suspicious at first." She muttered and you nodded in understatement. With a sigh, you shifted on the bed, trying not to move too much and make things harder for Mipha.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, sitting right by your side. You shook your head dismissively, still feeling a little dizzy.

“Fine.” You smiled at her and she shook her head.

After a moment of silence, you asked that question that had been bothering for a while now. "Can I have your name? If that's fine?" Both the girl and the Champion smiled to each other, Mipha having to hold back a small silent laugh as she nodded to the princess. 

Confused and worried, you looked between the two with a slightly panicked expression, only for it to worsen as you got your answer. 

"Zelda." The girl- The Princess looked at you with amusement as it seemed like you had broke for a second.

What?

Wait, wait. What?

Zelda… that was a very unique name, right? No one had it besides, well, the princess of Hyrule. It was a tradition in the royal family to name each one of the daughters on the bloodline, this exact name, no changes. The princess was the one who could openly represent the goddess, like Hylia herself could walk among men. The princess was endlessly important. 

…No way.

No way was she the princess all along? How… no, that's impossible, she must have been messing with you. 

"I'm kind of serious, you know? I just want to know your name." You said in obvious denial, making Zelda smile a little, feeling guilty for lying to you all this time.

"It's true, I'm not lying." She explained, making you tense immensely, suddenly coming to realize how casually you had been acting around the Hyrule Princess ever since you met her.

Oh. And there was that problem, too. That kiss on the forehead.

Oh no.

Is that why she was so suspicious of you at first? Why she didn't want to follow you, why the Yiga Clan was after her, even why she didn't know how to sand surf? Coming to think of it, why would a princess need to know how to sand surf? She knew the Champions personally, she could just ask to ride Vah Naboris if she wanted to cross the desert!

That night when she leaned over you, the hydromelons you shared, the coat fight you had yesterday, the kiss you gave on her forehead. On a scale of 1 to 10, how fucked were you right now? She was the princess! 

Definitely a 10.

Now it made sense, why you were at such a fancy room, it was the palace. Of course you would see Mipha again, why wouldn't you!? 

Internally you were a little bit more than panicking, almost having a breakdown with your own stupidity. It was noticeable, so much Zelda felt bad for giving the news in such a blunt way. With a nod towards Mipha, the Zora left both of you to resolve your issues alone. 

With a sigh, Zelda put a careful hand on your shoulder, making you flinch slightly. "Y/N, look at me." Her voice sounded gentle, barely a whisper. 

As you refused to move, too embarrassed to even think about it, the princess gently held your chin and lifted your face up, only to find tears coming from your eyes.

"I'm s-sorry." You said between sobs, wiping some tears with the palm of your hands. "I just- it's just- I remembered a lot just now, I- I'm so sorry for the way I acted and- and-" You only sobbed harder as she suddenly wrapped you in a tight hug. 

"It's okay, Y/N, I'm not mad at you, I'm not, I should be the one apologizing." She hugged you as you cried on her shoulder, your eyes watering more and more. You felt like being so close to Zelda was something so disgustingly wrong now, even if it really wasn’t.

Over the course of those two days, you came to know each other, you were friends. Friends could hug friends, there would never be anything wrong about that. You had come to know the princess more than anyone you knew ever would, you had treated her like any other traveler. She kept saying she wasn’t mad, but what if she was?

Once you calmed down, she let you go. As you cleaned your tears and were about to apologize ‘for being such a mess’, you stopped at the sight of a ring on her palm, one you would always recognize. You were sure it was the one you had made with your father, but why was it here and with her? Why–

“You know why I should be the one apologizing? Because I forgot you.” You were about to protest that statement, but before you could say anything you were silenced.

Silenced by a careful and gentle kiss, hesitant too.

"I'm sorry." She said after a silent moment. "I never thanked you for everything. You won't remember it now, but I'll help you, okay?" She looked at you with pleading eyes, as if desperate to know what you were thinking. You touched your lips, blushing heavily, mind racing with a million thoughts at once.

“But… is it really okay? Don’t you have more important things to do?” You looked down flustered, sputtering the first thing that came to your mind so you could try to ignore the fact that you had just kissed the Hyrule Princess.

She smiled sweetly. “After everything you’ve done for me, I wouldn’t mind it at all.” And it made little sense to you. What had you done that was so special she considered herself to be in debt with you? All you did was bring her to town.

Confused, it took you some seconds before you smiled weakly, hesitating for a moment before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "That's… fine, but only if you're not busy." She laughed at that. Fuck, she looked so beautiful right now.

"That's a little difficult, you know?" She muttered looking down, it was clear to you she was holding back from getting closer to you, from giving you a hug. Was it because she felt like you were being watched? Urbosa’s room was very open, people could see you from outside if they tried hard enough.

She was a princess after all, you knew she had been raised to maintain an image even if she didn’t want to. That meant no physical contact with others too. Rumors would go around and you wouldn’t want people to think the wrong thing, right? You were nothing but friends.

Right?

With a sigh, you offered her your hand as you had again and again before, but this time it had a new weight to it, one that wasn’t clear to you. Kissing you or not, did she love you? Did she do it just because? That’s not how things really work, is it?

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have treated you way better than what I did." You looked at her in the eyes as she seemed to get even redder than she already was, looking at you half confidently, half embarrassed. You smiled as she took your hand and squeezed it. Did she have something to tell you? You wanted to hug her.

You didn’t know what would have been worse, all of this to be real or it to be a dream. What were the chances of you helping the Princess of Hyrule of all people? The weakness you felt grounded you to the world, making it clear you were very much awake.

"I didn't want you to act differently, it felt nice when you didn’t treat me like royalty all the time." She answered with a small smile and you tilted your head to the side, a little confused.

"All the time?" She nodded as you yawned, feeling the tiredness of not sleeping for two days finally reaching you. You felt ready to sleep actually, just knowing Zelda was safe made you relax in a way you felt like you could sleep for ages, but not that you wanted to go out for so long.

“All those times you gave me your coat, when let me sleep on your bag and you carrying me on your shoulders–” At that moment, you couldn’t hold back a small laugh, making her stop mid-sentence.

“Sorry, didn’t want to interrupt you.” She pouted at you, making you laugh again. “You know, that was just me being nice, I wasn’t treating you any differently.” You let her hand go so you could boop her nose, making her laugh too.

“That’s my point silly.” She held your hand gently between her palms. “People who know who I am would never do that, so it was nice. Thank you.” 

And for a moment you thought you were in front of an angel because of how beautiful that smile was. You could have been blinded, really, but the goddess had allowed you to take a glimpse of a perfect world just this time as a reward. With a tired smile, you used the remaining energy inside of you to lift yourself up and kiss her again.

She pushed you back down gently after some sweet seconds, silently giving you the permission you needed to rest. With half-lidded eyes, you looked at her as she came closer and kissed you on the forehead.

“I’ll help you remember everything, alright? Now sleep well, I’ll be here once you wake up.” Could you even believe on her words? What if you were dreaming now?

She had trusted you this entire time and it paid off, you had saved her life and brought her back to a safe space where she could help you instead, so you could trust on her too.

Everything you forgot and left behind, you would remember all of it. 

_Every single bit._

**Author's Note:**

> I loved writing this, I hope you liked it. For more content (non-loz related yet) follow me on my tumblr ---> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/completely-random-writing


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